numb to the winter cold
by fallendrastic
Summary: I won't forget you. Tooth/Jack.


**a/n: **so I saw this movie last year, during December, and it was _surprisingly _fantastic. I've been meaning to write for it but I've been procrastinating for almost a year, unsurprisingly. so yeah, I hope you guys like it and leave me a review. It's very, very short but hey, it's my first time, so A+ for effort?

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He blows out a visible breath into the crisp winter air, sliding around the ice, dropping snow blankets around the trees and pavements, skidding around. He catches her reflection in the ice below his bare feet and slides over with shock, landing with a _thud _onto the ground.

"Tooth?" he asks, looking up. He meets her gaze and she smiles by way of reply.

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"You forgot," she says, whizzing around in the night sky. "It's annual, you know. We've been doing this for two years straight. And you _forgot_." He just shrugs, glancing at her and meeting her violet-eyed gaze. "Anyway, I kind of expected you would."

He never expected to be here, travelling with her, in the midst of the frosty air, getting ready to begin collecting teeth. Ever since that fateful night, the Guardians have made it an annual tradition to go tooth hunting during December. And every single time, he always pairs up with her. It's an unspoken tradition that the two of them pair up together, one that he always remembered to keep, well, until now.

They reach the top of the building, where Bunny, North and Sandy are already waiting. Once they arrive, North briefly goes through the rules, whipping out his never-ending scroll and reading them out as quickly as he possibly can. Tooth is probably the only one paying attention at this point (even Sandy is busy painting the air around him with diamond-shaped sand dust).

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And once North is done speaking, off they go, flying off into the sky and diving into chimneys; North, Bunny and Sandy as one team, Jack and Tooth as another (apparently having Tooth on your team is equivalent to having two players).

Tooth takes the lead, as always, zooming freely into the sky, enveloping the feeling of the wind around her wings. Jack flies alongside her, embracing the familiarity of the event. It's been exactly a year since they've been tooth hunting, and he's unknowingly missed it. One by one, they both separate and attempt to collect as many teeth as they possibly can. It's a competitive game, one that Tooth never wants to lose.

He expected her to be resentful, but she isn't. In fact, it's as if she has completely forgotten everything that occurred before they had arrived. Because in that moment, she's laughing; her voice ringing cheerily in the air, suddenly not caring about anything. Her eyes are completely filled with mirth as she switches from rooftop to rooftop, and in that moment he realizes how completely _different_ she is.

She's not cold, not at all—she's warm and she always has the biggest smile on her face. She exudes happiness and she's passionate. Her love for children is so breathtakingly _pure_, everything about her is. And that scares him. But, at the same time, it fascinates him. And that's when he gets really scared because he never, ever, intended to get attached to any of them, especially not _her_. But he has, unknowingly, accidentally, and he doesn't even know _when_ it happened.

But when she flies up to him, ecstatic about getting another tooth, the corners of her mouth curving into a bright, incandescent smile, he can't help but smile back. Because she has a hold over him that he doesn't quite think he'll ever understand.

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It's midnight; which means it's time for a break. They go to the nearest building and sit there for a good minute, wordlessly swinging their legs back and forth, her brilliant violet eyes glued to the moon.

He doesn't say anything and neither does she.

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They continue until it's daytime, when the sun rises from the ground and shines brightly in the sky for all to see, and then they stop. The event is over, all of the teeth have been collected, it's over. The moment has passed.

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"We lost because we were the latest," she states, her tone coloured with disappointment. "Our points were deducted."

"It's a stupid rule," he declares and she just shrugs. He glances at her and smirks. "I won't forget next year. I won't forget you."

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Her hand is warm against his on the way back.

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**a/n**: eh, I tried. can't blame a girl for trying, right? review please :)


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